


It Takes Courage

by turtleeden



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Action, F/M, ShuAnnWeek2k19, and here is it... the final day, and i especially love this one, and i kept it in the back of my mind ever since, fun fact: the concept behind this actually happened in a playthrough of mine, i hope you guys do too!, this week was so fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-23 20:30:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19708855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtleeden/pseuds/turtleeden
Summary: The Phantom Thieves go off to Mementos to fulfill a new request. This request involves a girl who has been obsessed with the boy she likes, and it's about to take a turn for the worse if she's left alone. Panther is very determined to stop this girl. Not only as a Phantom Thief, but as a fellow young girl in love.(Day 7 Prompt: Free Day)





	It Takes Courage

Mementos… despite her frequent visits to this place, there was always an underlying creepiness that she wasn’t able to shake off. Panther blocked her inner grievances from her mind and simply waited until they were able to reach their destination. They had a job to do, after all. And it’s one that she was more than eager to help put a stop to before it gets out of hand.

Yumeko Mogami… that was the name of the girl who was requested by the Phan-site. She’s been write disturbing messages on her blog about how she was going to kill her boyfriend. In reality, she was a fellow Shujin student whose crush on a boy was about to get out of hand. If this matter continues to go on unaddressed, then Yumeko might actually go through with killing this boy! That was definitely something that Panther wasn’t going to let happen. For that boy’s sake… and also for Yumeko’s.

After all, Panther knows what it’s like to be in love.

“I sense it! The target’s on the next floor!” Mona announced, snapping Panther out of her thoughts for a moment.

“Gotcha, Mona. Get ready, guys.” Joker warned from the driver’s seat. He stepped on the acceleration to pick the pace, speeding down the path he was on as he maneuvered around the lurking shadows. He kept a sharp eye for the train platform on this floor, knowing well that they would be safe from the shadows if they reach it. Panther’s eyes lingered on Joker for a while, feeling her heart flutter inside of her chest as she gazed at the driver’s seat.

It’s barely been a week since they’ve gotten together.

Even in this double life as the Phantom Thieves, everything just felt so… new! Familiar, but new at the same time. Panther didn’t know if that made any sense, but… ever since their confessions of love at the rooftop, and especially after their moment on the Ferris Wheel, she’s been over the moon. Being in love was such a wonderful and overwhelming feeling, especially when the person you love loves you back in return. But in context… Panther counted herself lucky. Especially in comparison to their next target. 

Yumeko harboring her feelings like this… she figured that her feelings were overwhelming her, and they were appearing in such a dangerous way. Panther didn’t blame her for being in love, but there was a point where somebody can take it too far. If left unchecked, taking it too far can evolve into taking it to a point of no return. And would it really be called love at that point?

No.

The Phantom Thieves had to stop her before it’s too late.

The Mona mobile eventually reached the platform that they were looking for. Joker slowed down once the platform was in his sights, and eventually he stopped to park next to it. One by one, the Phantom Thieves exit the van before Mona reverted back to his original form. All eyes fell to the escalator leading down to the next floor, where the shadow awaited them. Everyone was raring to go… even Queen, who was still new to Mementos itself.

“Everyone ready?” Joker asked.

“Hell yeah!” Skull answered.

“Of course!” Panther promised.

“I’m ready.” Queen affirmed.

“Let us press forward, Joker.” Fox said.

“Sounds like we’re all good to go.” Mona said, nodding. “As always, we’ll go on your mark, Joker.”

“Alright. Let’s go give out a cure for a bad romance.” Joker declared. He turned towards the escalator and stepped on it, going down to the next floor. Everyone else followed suit, their surroundings changing into a different shade of darkness.

The battlefield wasn’t a closed off space in the middle of a winding path this time, but an obstacle taking place upon a subway-esque platform. Shadow Yumeko was there in the middle, smirking wildly with an obsessive glint to her yellow eyes. Her dara aura glowed eerily in the darkness, even more so as two trains zipped past the platform in opposite directions. Beyond her was a closed gate, most likely the one that has recently been unlocked after dealing with Kaneshiro. Even if they weren’t going to explore more of Mementos after this, Shadow Yumeko was still something that they had to take care of.

“She’s smirking… Man, it looks kinda creepy on her.” Skull commented, shuddering.

“Look at her… She looks disturbingly blissful, like she must be lost in some kind of sick and twisted love fantasy.” Panther observed, wincing at the sight. “But this isn’t right. Her blog’s full of all of her crazy thoughts about this guy, and who knows what else she’s gonna do if we leave her be?”

“That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” Queen interjected, her eyes locked on the shadow herself. “To stop her before she hurts anyone else, including herself?”

“Of course.” Panther agreed, nodding in determination.

“Then let’s not waste any more time.” Joker said, narrowing his eyes. “Be ready for anything.”

Though she looked like she was in chaotic bliss, Shadow Yumeko’s posture looked very closed off. She was simply smirking to herself while clasping her hands nervously against her chest. As the Phantom Thieves drew closer to her, they could’ve sworn that they heard the sounds of whispering… but they couldn’t make out the words. They could only assume that the words that Shadow Yumeko was whispering to herself was the same words that she constantly posted on her blog:

_“I’ll kill him.”_  
_“I’ll kill him.”_  
_“I’ll kill him.”_

Upon the arrival of the Phantom Thieves, Shadow Yumeko’s eyes grew wide as she looked at everyone one by one. The more people that she saw, the more her eyes grew in a mix of fear and outrage. She immediately gets into a defensive stance, and hissed at the group of thieves approaching her.

“H-Huh? W-What are you Phantom Thieves doing!?” she cried, her voice cracking as she stuttered. “I know why you’d go after Kamoshida, but why me!? I’m not doing anything wrong!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Yumeko Mogami. We’ve got our reasons for seeking you out.” Joker stated. 

“The nature of your charges is: A crime of love! Unbridled passion directed in a dangerous path via stalking and declarations of death through a blog!” Fox declared.

“S-So? I have a blog where I can vent! Doesn’t everybody?! I-It’s not like I’m actually gonna do something! I wouldn’t!” Shadow Yumeko cried.

“Oh?” Queen inquired, quirking a brow as she put a hand to her hip. “Even if you pose a danger to everyone around you, including yourself? And even Ikesugi-kun?”

“!!!” Shadow Yumeko’s face immediately twisted into an ominous frown at the mention of Ikesugi. Her previously closed off posture immediately became more feral and ready to fight. “Bastards! Back the hell away from Ikesugi-kun! He’s mine!” she snarled.

“Hey, hey! Easy!” Panther interjected, stepping forward. “Listen, I don’t blame you for falling in love at all. But the way you’re going about it… there’s a point where it goes too far! You’ve gotta stop what you’re doing!”

Shadow Yumeko glanced over at Panther, and immediately glared at her as if she recognized her from somewhere. “You!!” she screeched, pointing at her. “You’re the bitch who’s trying to steal Ikesugi-kun from me!”

_What!?_

“Who’re you calling a bitch?!” Panther snapped back. “And I’m not interested in Ikesugi at all!”

“Liar!” Shadow Yumeko screeched, the dark aura beginning to swirl around her with a force. “You’re just jealous of our love like the sore loser you are! That’s why you’re hanging around with some lame-looking guys and a funny-looking animal!”

“What was that?!” Skull growled.

“Hey! I’m not funny-looking!” Mona snapped.

“Whatever! It’s fine… it’s all going to be fine… Ikesugi-kun, I’ll take care of everything…! I’ll kill them! I’ll kill them all!! No one will get in the way of our love!”

Shadow Yumeko fell down to her knees and screamed as the black aura enveloped her body completely. When the aura began to subside, what stood in Shadow Yumeko’s place was a demonic looking teddy bear whose stuffing was peeking out from the ripped tearings. Despite its shabby appearance, it growled with Shadow Yumeko’s voice. The Phantom Thieves all get into a defensive position once they saw that Shadow Yumeko was getting ready to attack.

“UghhhhhHHHHHHHH!! DON’T get in the way of ROMANCE!!!” she screeched as she released a stagnant air upon the battlefield. Everyone immediately shielded their noses in reaction, but they knew the effect has been placed.

“So it’s going to be that kind of fight…” Joker coughed, before placing his hand against his mask. “Kin-Ki!”

At Joker’s call, a oni with a golden body emerged, ready to strike as he spun his weapon at great speed. He then dashed ahead and struck down Shadow Yumeko’s body with a powerful Vajra Blast.

“Ugh…!” Shadow Yumeko groaned.

“Let’s keep up the pressure so that she won’t use any status effects!” Queen bellowed, immediately zipping away on Johanna. As she revved up Johanna’s engine, Queen sped on her motorcycle so that she could sharply ram Shadow Yumeko with Johanna’s spinning wheel, using her own Vajra Blast.

“Ow…! Back OFF!!” Shadow Yumeko screeched, swinging her stuffed arms in an angry motion.

“Not a chance!” Panther cried out as she put a hand to her mask. No matter how much Yumeko would fight them or push them away in her obsessive rage, Panther was determined to help this girl. And with her new power… she was going to make sure of that!

“Persona!”

Upon Panther’s call, her teammates expected to see the graceful movements of Carmen, ready to light up this shadow with her fire. But something was different; this Persona was not Carmen at all. Instead of seeing the seductive swirl of Carmen’s red flamenco dress, everyone saw this caped Persona emerging with both fire and darkness adorning her sharp, slender body. Instead of seeing the little men with heart-shaped heads that were under Carmen’s heel, they saw feral creatures chained to this Persona’s arms as if they were her pets. Instead of a free, fierce woman whom no man could tame, the Persona behind Panther was an unhinged dark goddess. Her multiple eyes glowed ominously as she twirled her body around, and with her swirling movements came bright, hot flames growing in size as if they were pure magic.

_“Dance, Hecate!”_

Hecate’s flames engulfed Shadow Yumeko completely, so much so that she ended up being burned thanks to her own stagnant air. “Owowowowow!” Shadow Yumeko cried as she panicked, trying to ease her burns. While the Shadow rolled around on ground shrieking in pain, Panther’s teammates look upon her new Persona in shock.

“Panther… your Persona…” Queen trailed off in awe.

“Hecate? Uh, what happened to Carmen?” Skull questioned.

“She evolved!” Panther answered.

“Evolved!? What the hell?! This ain’t a Wallet Monster game!” Skull cried.

“Who cares about that, Skull?!” Mona tsked, looking at Panther and Hecate with stars in his eyes. “What a meow-velous Persona! Like Carmen before her, she reflects Panther’s inner rebellion and resolve perfectly!”

“So Carmen has evolved… such a beautiful, imposing sight! A show of both allure and power, completely untamed! I can feel inspiration rising from this development!” Fox mused, laughing as he reeled from his current rush of inspiration. “Would Goemon be able to reach this enlightened state of power as well? I will look forward to that day.”

“Did you know ‘bout this, Joker?” Skull questioned.

“Hm? Of course I knew.” Joker answered simply. While the others were shocked over Hecate’s appearance and display of power, Joker simply looked on with a proud smirk on his face.

“Wait, what?! How can you just tell things like that, man?!” Skull exclaimed in disbelief.

“I’ll tell you later. Right now, we got to put our heads in the game.” As Joker said that, the Phantom Thieves all notice that Shadow Yumeko was rising up from the ground, still raring to fight despite her burns.

“Joker’s right. This isn’t over.” Queen interjected. “But it looks like Panther’s attack burned the shadow. We’ve got the advantage!”

“And that’s my cue!” Mona proudly exclaimed, jumping up in the air. “Zorro!”

Zorro’s body loomed behind Mona as he leapt up in the air, ready to strike. By Mona’s command, Zorro took out his rapier as he aimed at the reeling Shadow Yumeko. He swung his sword in a ‘Z’ shape, and with his swings came a gust of wind that blew against the shadow’s burning body. Shadow Yumeko screeched in pain from the technical strike, but she was still standing in place even as her body was solidifying. And when her body was finally stable, pink sparks appeared around Shadow Yumeko’s stuffy arm, ready to strike.

“Stay of my WAY!!!” she screeched.

“Mona! Heads up!” Skull cried, wasting no time in picking up Mona’s body and literally throwing him out of the way of the punch.

“What the -- ?! Skull!!” Mona cried, but Skull was already sent flying by the Shadow’s punch. Skull’s body skid harshly against the ground until his momentum was broken by colliding with one of the pillars that was there. He grunted in pain as he struggled to stand, which made the others worry for him.

“Skull!” Panther cried.

“Cover him! We’ll hold her off!” Joker ordered. Fox and Queen respectively nodded and immediately rushed to Skull’s side to help him out. That left Joker, Panther and Mona to hold off Shadow Yumeko herself.

“You’re gonna pay for that!” Mona growled, brandishing his sword as he glared at Shadow Yumeko.

“Ugh, shut up! No one CARES!!” Shadow Yumeko screeched, flapping her stuffy arms in frustration as she glared at the Phantom Thieves. “I’m not gonna let you get in the way of love!!”

As she screeched once more, Panther felt an overwhelming pressure in the air that was weakening her body. Damn… her defense has been lowered! She glanced at Joker and Mona, and saw that they were feeling the same effect that she was. This wasn’t good. If Shadow Yumeko could knock down Skull like that, then she didn’t want to know how that punch would feel like with her body weakened.

“Panther, Mona… stay on your toes.” Joker warned, wincing as he took up his knife.

“Right. We’ll be careful.” Panther responded, nodding at him. It… probably didn’t help that both hers and Mona’s defenses were weak to begin with. This was going to take a little more work to stay on top.

“We’re on top of things, Joker. Let’s make this easy for Skull to come back.” Mona replied. “Zorro!”

Zorro emerged once more and emitted a passive aura of his own towards Shadow Yumeko’s body. The ominous glow to her beady yellow eyes weakened as she winced, feeling the pressure of her accuracy weakening. This will probably give them an easier time to fend her off until everyone is back together. Joker, wasting no time, charged forward and called upon Kin-Ki once again in order to attack.

“Ngh… W-Where? Ow… Where’d you go!?” Shadow Yumeko cried, still hissing over her burn.

“Right under your nose.” Joker quipped, smirking widely as Kin-Ki swung his weapon as if he was swinging a _sledgehammer_. Shadow Yumeko was hit directly and her stuffed body slammed into the ground. She cried in pain once again, but it only made her angrier as her fists began to spark pink once more.

“Why you…!” she hissed, rising up from the ground before she tried taking a swing at Joker.

“No you don’t!” Panther yelled out, holding a hand to her mask. Hecate raised her arms, allowing the chained feral creatures to howl and hiss at Shadow Yumeko. A passive aura emerged from their hissing, and Shadow Yumeko felt that her punch lacked the power she initially intended. Not that it mattered at this instance, for Joker dodged the attack in time thanks to her slower movements.

“I got you now!” Mona cried, aiming carefully with his slingshot. He was careful not to waste his ammo carelessly, since there was a lot more of Mementos to explore after this fight. Once he saw a golden opportunity, he was sure to take it. When Shadow Yumeko raised her head towards Mona’s direction, Mona shot his pellets into the Shadow’s glowing, beady eyes.

“Ow!!” she cried, growling in frustration. “You’re such an EYESORE!”

Angered by the onslaught of attacks being made by these three, Shadow Yumeko’s hand glowed with that same, pink static that gave away the preparation for her Brain Shake punch. But thanks to her lowered agility and Mona hitting her in the eyes, she couldn’t see well. When she tried to punch Mona, he easily jumped out of the way of her attack, making her punch the pavement instead.

“Damn it…! Just leave us alone…!!” Shadow Yumeko cried.

“Panther!” Joker called out.

“I’m right behind you!” Panther answered. “Let’s do this, Joker!”

The two of them took off, running together as they charged at the shadow. Just when they got close to Shadow Yumeko, Joker and Panther suddenly split up and ran into opposite directions. Joker summoned Kin-Ki again, allowing the golden-bodied demon to dash forward with his weapon in hand. Will all of the might he could muster, he struck at Shadow Yumeko with a harsh Vajra Blast. Shadow Yumeko was sent flying backwards, directly within Panther’s line of sight. And Panther was ready for her.

“Hecate!”

All of Hecate’s eyes glint ominously as she raised her hand, unleashing a harsh stream of fire at the airborne Shadow Yumeko. Once again, Shadow Yumeko was engulfed in Hecate’s flame, and the combined might of that and Kin-Ki’s Vajra Blast made her crash into the ground. Her body was solidifying more slowly, even as her burn finally began to fade. It was a matter of time before she would be taken out for good, but Shadow Yumeko was still trying to recover.

“Nice! We got her!” Panther cheered.

“Let’s keep at it like this!” Joker encouraged. “By the time the others come back, we’ll be --”

“Skull! Cease this at once!”

_Huh?_

Everyone glanced behind them to see Fox fending off Skull, who was wildly swinging his mace as if he couldn’t see straight. Fox kept defending himself with his sword, trying hard not to attack Skull with anything, but Skull was relentless in his wild swinging. The crazed look he currently had in his eyes was further accentuated by the pink static that floated around his mask. Suddenly the pink sparks that everyone kept seeing from Shadow Yumeko made sense in their minds. It wasn’t just aesthetic! It was...

“Argh… Skull’s been brainwashed!” Mona cried. Somehow he felt even more appreciative that Skull took that hit for him. “That’s even more reason not to get hit by that punch!”

“Don’t worry, Mona. Fox and I will take care of Skull!” Queen assured, putting a hand to her mask. As her mask began to glow with blue fire, Johanna appeared beneath her legs, allowing Queen to ride atop her motorcycle once more. As Queen revved at her engine, Johanna’s exhaust pipe began to emit a green aura filled with pure energy. “Just keep stalling the shadow! We’ll be right with you!” she assured, before she sped down to Skull with a green smoke trailing behind her.

“Queen’s on the move!” Panther sighed in relief.

“Good… Queen and Fox can take care of Skull.” Joker said, nodding as he returned his focus to the struggling Shadow Yumeko.

“In the meantime… we’ll just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing.” Mona observed, before calling upon Zorro once again. Zorro held his sword up and allowed a soothing light to heal Mona, Joker and Panther. Joker in particular was especially appreciative of Mona’s timely healing. Kin-Ki was powerful… but his physical attacks can quickly drain him. “She has a strong attack with that punch… strong enough so that she could scramble your brain like she did with Skull. But other than that, she’s actually pretty weak.”

“We can hit her pretty hard with physical attacks, but we can definitely take her down even more with magic.” Joker observed, before forming a confident grin. “Lucky for us, we’ve got our hardest hitter in that department right here.”

Panther blinked as she noticed that both Joker and Mona’s eyes are on her. “Wait, me?” she asked, pointing to herself.

“Our one and only.” Joker answered. “And don’t think I forgot that you’re the one who burned that shadow in the first place. You definitely got this.”

“And with your newly evolved Persona, you have even more power at your beck and call than before! You can turn this around in our favor, Panther!” Mona added.

“Guys…” Panther trailed off, looking at the both of them. It surprised her to hear that these two had so much faith in her to get this done. And she had to admit, it felt so good to hear that from them. And since they were counting on her… she sure as hell wasn’t going to let them down! Panther’s features settled into a look of determination, and she gave Joker and Mona her most confident smile. “I understand. Leave it to me!” she promised.

“Show her who’s boss, Panther.” Joker encouraged. As he turned to face the now rising Shadow Yumeko, he shot a quick, subtle wink at Panther’s direction. “We’ll back you up.”

Panther felt her heart skip a beat when she caught that wink of his, and she felt the heat rising in her cheeks. He just had to slip that in, didn’t he? That cheeky little… What is she going to do with him? _‘I’ll get him for that later,’_ she thought to herself, shaking her head as she focused on Shadow Yumeko. _‘But for right now… I’ve gotta help end this fight. Just hold on a little while longer, Yumeko-san…!’_

Shadow Yumeko pants harshly as she hovered in place. Her head was hanging limp and her arms were starting to droop. But regardless of the beating she received, she was still raring to fight. “Why?” she questioned, her voice sounding more distorted. “Why won’t you just leave us alone…?! Stop bothering me! I won’t let you steal Ikesugi-kun from me! HE’S MY LOVE!”

“He isn’t yours!” Panther protested, tightening the hold on her whip. She was determined to have Yumeko see reason, no matter what. “He doesn’t belong to anybody, really! He isn’t just a thing that you can claim just because you say you love him!”

“Shut UP! WHAT DO YOU KNOW!?” Shadow Yumeko screamed. At the sound of her cry, she released another batch of stagnant air into the battlefield. The stench seeped out of her ripped up body and mouth as it covered the area. Immediately everyone in range covered their noses as their initial reaction to the foul stench. Not good… it’s imperative that they don’t get hit by that punch of hers now. Not only will that punch hurt, but there’s a really good chance that one of them will end up like Skull if they got hit.

“I know more than you think...!” Panther yelled out, coughing from sniffing the air. Despite the dangerous situation at hand, she was not backing down. “Maybe not about Ikesugi-kun, but I know about love and how it should be! And deep down, I get the feeling that you know too! I bet you know that what you’re doing isn’t the way to go!”

“STOP IT!!”

“Hecate!”

As Shadow Yumeko lunged at Panther for speaking out, she was immediately blasted by Hecate’s fire as she soon as she got close to her. She roared loudly even as the flames engulf her body and burned her skin thanks to the air she herself emitted. But this doesn’t stop Shadow Yumeko. It only made her even angrier at this point.

“You’re annoying… you’re so annoying!” she cried, glaring at Panther.

“You shouldn’t even be talking!” Mona quipped as Zorro unleashed another gust of wind. Shadow Yumeko screamed once more as the wind irritated her burn and added to her damage, but she was still glaring at Panther in particular. Joker, catching this, narrowed his eyes as he put a hand to his mask.

“Kin-Ki.” he summoned. Unlike the other times Joker has summoned him, Kin-Ki wasn’t here to attack Shadow Yumeko again. Instead, he tapped his weapon against the ground and released a charging blue aura that began to surround Panther. Joker’s upping her defense… just in case. He didn’t like the look in Shadow Yumeko’s eyes. And sure enough, his fears were well accounted for.

Shadow Yumeko’s hand began to form that telltale pink static again. It sparked madly as she growled lowly like a cornered animal. She was preparing another Brain Shake punch, and this time her target was Panther. The shadow rose up to her feet and winded up her punch, completely ready to silence Panther and her passionate pleading once and for all.

“GO AWAY!!!” she bellowed.

The shadow screeched with a fury, the crackling of the pink static loud as she lunged with her punch. Panther gritted her teeth as she saw the attack coming, but the next few moments happened so fast that she didn’t react in time. Shadow Yumeko made contact with something… she felt it! She felt the impact of her punch blowing away everything in her immediately area, causing smoke to cloud the battlefield. But when the smoke cleared a little, she saw that she didn’t hit her intended mark. Instead of hitting Panther, who she was aiming for, Shadow Yumeko saw that her stuffed fist rested against the chest of an imposing golden demon. 

Kin-Ki stood tall against the Shadow despite the pink static running through his golden body. On the other side of the Persona was Joker, who defended Panther by using both Kin-Ki and himself as a shield. Kin-Ki’s natural resistance to physical attacks made Joker fare better than Skull when he got hit, but that doesn’t mean that Joker himself wasn’t affected. As he stood there with his back turned towards Shadow Yumeko, remnants of pink static surged along his limbs. When Panther opened her eyes, she saw that Joker was in front of her with his arms raised defensively and his head hanging low.

“Joker…!” Panther gasped worriedly, taking hold of his cheeks. “Why’d you do that!? You know you could’ve been -- !”

Panther suddenly stopped talking once she saw the pink static surge around Joker’s mask. Joker didn’t say anything after all of that, but he was panting hard as he stood there, unmoving. Kin-Ki eventually faded, leaving Shadow Yumeko to recoil and back away to adjust herself. When Joker finally opened his eyes and raised his head, Panther saw that the color of his eyes wasn’t the intense, sharp gray that she’s grown to love. Instead… Joker’s eyes were unnaturally pink. His eyes glowed with an ominous pink sheen, further accentuated by the pink static that currently surrounded his mask. Slowly but surely, his expression became more crazed, completely unlike the cool and confident air he often wore.

_Oh no._

“No… No no no no no…! Joker, stay with me!” Panther begged, her hands shaking as she cradled his face. Crap… what was she going to do? Was she going to have to dig for an item and cure him herself? Was she going to have to wait for Queen to return? Was Mona going to have to get the item if she can’t? Questions swirled inside of her mind madly as she tried to think of a way to snap Joker out of his brainwashed state. But while Panther was inwardly panicking, Joker emitted a low growl as he bared his teeth. Oh god, is he getting ready to attack!? Panther’s mind blanked once she saw Joker’s crazed expression, and she immediately reacted in her panic.

“Sorry, Joker!”

_Slap!_

Panther slapped Joker across the face with all of her might, making him recoil and stumble on his feet. Once she saw how much power was behind that slap, Panther winced. God, that must have hurt! But despite being slapped, Joker’s harsh panting began to ease up after a while. His breathing slowed more and more until he was able to recollect himself. Joker straightened up his posture as he gingerly touched his reddened cheek. The pink static that surrounded his eyes dissipated, and he looked up at Panther in slight confusion.

“Panther?”

“That worked!?” Panther cried in disbelief. Despite her initial surprise, Panther was relieved that Joker was back to normal thanks to her little… _recovery move._ “Geez, don’t scare me like that!” she chided.

“Sorry.” Joker apologized. He quickly looked her over, trying to make sure that she was alright. “You alright? The shadow didn’t… _I_ didn’t…”

“I’m okay.” Panther assured, flashing him a brief smile. "Watch out...!"

As soon as she yelled that out, Panther put a hand to her mask to summon Hecate once more. Shadow Yumeko was trying to attack them while they were still disoriented, but Panther caught her just in time to retaliate. Hecate unleashed another stream of fire, making the Shadow scream and back away from the two of them as she endured the heated blast.

"Guess we can call it even." Joker said, watching the shadow burn.

“Joker! Panther!” Mona called from across the battlefield. “Are you two alright?! I couldn’t see what was going on!”

“Mona! We’re fine!” Panther assured. 

“Good.” Mona ran over to where the two of them were and literally jumped over to their side, sword in hand as he glared at the reeling Shadow Yumeko. “I said that she was weak, but she’s hanging on longer than I thought she would.”

“That won’t be a problem for much longer.” Joker said, turning to face Shadow Yumeko as well.

“Nghhh…” Shadow Yumeko moaned out, trying to straighten up her limp, burning body. She glared down at the three of them with both confusion and rage in her beady yellow eyes. “You’re such… a pain! Why won’t you all just go away!?” she cried in a pained yell. “I’ll kill you all! No matter how many times it takes! I won’t let anyone get in the way of -- !!!”

_“Take ‘er out, Captain!”_

Suddenly Shadow Yumeko was bombarded by the hull of a ship blitzing at her with swift strikes. She screamed in pain once more as she endured the strikes, her body solidifying slower and slower with each strike that was hit. Joker, Panther and Mona’s eyes widened at the sight of Captain Kidd sailing across the battlefield, and big smiles stretched in all of their faces as they glanced behind them.

“Skull! You’re okay!” Panther cried in her relief.

“Welcome back, you big bastard.” Joker greeted with a wide grin.

“Heh. Sorry for the hold up!” Skull said with a wild grin of his own. “Had Fox and Queen taking care of me the whole time. Lemme tell ya, being brainwashed is a pain in the ass.”

“I heard that.” Joker agreed easily.

“It was really rough on Fox though. Apparently I was wailing on him like crazy. Sorry ‘bout that, dude.” Skull apologized, sweat forming on his brow.

“There is no harm done in the end. Your recovery is what mattered.” Fox said simply, walking up to the group as he put his hand on his mask. “Right now there is a shadow that has overstayed her welcome. And I’ll be happy to aid in taking her down. Goemon!”

Goemon emerged from Fox and dashed forward towards Shadow Yumeko with great speed. As quickly as he rushed towards her, Goemon unleashed a powerful rising slash and struck at her body.

“Kh…!”

“Don’t forget about me! I see that the shadow is still burned!” Queen observed, zipping past the others as she rode towards Shadow Yumeko. As Queen drew close to her, Johanna’s face glowed with a shining, bright blue light. It illuminated the shape of her features and made the rest of her face glow. And just when the light fully enveloped Johanna’s face, Queen let out her battle cry.

“Charge, Johanna!”

The light that enveloped Johanna’s face quickly disappeared, and just when it disappeared, a concentrated ball of nuclear energy exploded in front of Shadow Yumeko’s body. Much like the wind attacks, that nuclear attack added some extra damage to Shadow Yumeko’s form. Eventually she was barely floating above the ground, head hanging down in her exhaustion.

“Mona! Panther! Let’s wrap this up!” Joker bellowed, breaking out into a run as he charged at Shadow Yumeko.

“Thought you’d never ask!” Mona laughed with a grin on his face as he ran with Joker.

“Let’s do this!” Panther agreed, running along with the two of them. 

The three of them charged at the reeling Shadow Yumeko with their weapons in hand. Mona jumped ahead and slashed at her body with his sword with quick movement. The next to attack her was Joker, who gave a couple of slashes of his own as payback from that brief brainwashing spell. As soon as his attacks were done, he backed away from Shadow Yumeko’s unstable body, leaving an opening for the final hit.

“It’s all yours, Panther!”

“Gotcha!” Panther replied, tightening the hold on her whip as she charged at Shadow Yumeko. She raised her arm and unleashed a series of attacks from her whip, her determination laced with every crack and swish she made. At the final whipcrack, Shadow Yumeko’s body finally gave away after all of the beatings she took from the Phantom Thieves. 

The dark aura that surrounded her dissipated along with her body, melting into the ground and fizzling out within seconds. Shadow Yumeko returned to her normal form, with her head hanging down as she sank to her knees in defeat. She was silent for a moment, but then everyone heard sniffling coming from her. Before long Shadow Yumeko broke out in tears, feeling the true effect of her distorted desires coming down on her.

“W-What have I done…?” she wept, wiping at her yellow eyes. But the tears kept coming no matter how many times she tried to stop them. “M-My romance… My passion… I can’t believe it was all wrong… I just… I just wanted to love Ikesugi-kun… I have all of these feelings inside of me that go crazy whenever I see him… What should I do? Can I really call this love?”

“....” Panther frowned to herself as she watched this poor girl lamenting about her feelings for this boy. Not willing to stand by and let her suffer alone, she walked up towards the weeping shadow with little hesitation in her steps.

“Whoa, hey! Panther -- !” Skull began, before Joker put his hand up as a way to stop him. 

“She’s got this.” Joker assured.

Panther knelt down to Shadow Yumeko’s level as that she could look at her face to face. Shadow Yumeko raised her head up and was surprised that Panther would even come close to her after all that’s happened.

“Y-You…?” Shadow Yumeko questioned, confused. “Why would you even talk to me?”

“It’s like I said before. I don’t blame you for falling in love. Trust me, I’ve been there,” Panther said. “And you really like Ikesugi-kun, don’t you?”

“...Y-Yeah… but the way I went about it though… I could’ve really hurt him…! That’s the last thing I want!” Shadow Yumeko cried, shaking her head vigorously. “Tell me… w-what should I do?”

“For one thing, stop putting weird stuff on your blog about killing people. That’s definitely not the way to go,” Panther answered, shaking her head. “Just tell him how you feel. Face to face.”

“Just like that?” Shadow Yumeko questioned. “I-I’m scared… what if he hates me?”

“I’m not saying that it won’t be scary! It’ll take courage to say something like that to somebody,” Panther said. “But you know? Love’s a scary thing. Everything feels all new and different and crazy and you’re so happy that you don’t even know what to do with yourself! But that’s also what makes it kinda great too. You feel all sorts of things for a person that you’d never thought you’d feel before. Telling somebody that you’ve got feelings for them is crazy stressful, whether you’ve just realized it or you’ve been holding it in for a long time. But you’ll never know what’s gonna happen unless you go for it!”

“....”

“Hey, if he shoots you down, it’s gonna hurt. Really bad. But you can’t force somebody to love you. That’s just not how it works. But if he accepts your feelings and likes you back… then it’s gonna be the best feeling in the world.”

“That sounds so risky…” Shadow Yumeko said sadly.

“It is,” Panther said, nodding. “That’s why it takes courage.”

“....” Shadow Yumeko fell silent for a moment, allowing the last of her tears to fall down to the ground. Eventually, the aura around her shadow form glowed with more of a pure, uncorrupted light than it did before. Shadow Yumeko then looked up at Panther and nodded, finally wearing a genuine smile instead of the delusional smirk she wore in the beginning. “I’ll do it…!” she promised. “I’m scared, but… I’ll do it! And I’ll do it right! Ikesugi-kun, wait for me…!”

“Go for it! I’m rooting for you!” Panther said, cheering her on.

“B-But hey!! Don’t do anything weird!” Skull hurriedly added.

With that, Shadow Yumeko finally faded in that pure, white light as she returned to her other self. In her place came the bud of her treasure, floating in place. Joker stepped forward and took it into his hands, but the minute that it materialized in his hands and he felt the contents, he grimaced.

“Ugh… Is this hair…?” he questioned, peering at it with suspicion.

“Seriously!? I put up with being brainwashed for that!?” Skull cried in disbelief.

“It would appear so… but what a peculiar shape this hairball has. Normally the shape of such things would vary, but this hairball is shaped perfectly. There’s not a hair out of place.” Fox observed, sounding a little impressed.

"Eh. I'm sure Joker will find _some_ use for it." Mona said, shrugging.

“Ahem, in any case… we’ve succeeded in our request. Hopefully things will be a little peaceful on her end,” Queen said, looking towards the closed off wall on the other side. “Now… shall we move on to the next area? Mona said that there was a wall beyond here that led to a new area, isn’t that right?”

“Uh, right…!” Mona said, bouncing up and down as he headed towards the wall in question. “Once everyone’s all rested up, let’s check it out!”

“What’s got you all hyped up?” Skull grumbled, scratching his head as he walked towards the wall in his own curiosity. “But can’t say that I blame ya. It does feel more exciting every time we open up one of these walls!”

“Right! The more walls we open, the deeper we can go. And the deeper we go, the closer we get to the truth,” Mona said. “We’ve just got to keep going at this pace and we’ll get to the core of Mementos’ secrets… I think.”

“That again…?” Skull groaned.

The others slowly made their way towards the other side of the platform, where they all took the time to rest themselves and gather their bearings after an enduring battle. Panther, in the meanwhile, didn’t make a move to go with them. Instead she was staring at the spot where Shadow Yumeko disappeared from, quietly reflecting over what she said to her. Joker noticed her standing there instead of joining the others, and decided to approach her to see how she was doing.

“Courage, huh?”

Panther looked over at Joker and smiled at him. “It’s the truth.” she said simply. “Besides, I could relate to her a little bit. After all, I know what it’s like to be a girl in love.”

“Yeah?” Joker said, smirking as he drew closer to her. “Even though I was the one who said something first?”

“Hey, I actually said ‘I love you’ first!” Panther retorted with a pout. “And meant it, might I add!”

“You did. You were cute when your face was all red while you were saying it too.” Joker teased.

“Oh stop it, you! Like you weren’t a little red yourself then and there!” Panther huffed.

“Guilty as charged.” Joker chuckled. Despite his teasing, he was actually turning a little red himself after the memory of their confession flashed in this mind. Seeing him blushing like that made Panther smile. It’s cute regardless if he’s Akira or if he was Joker.

“How’s your cheek?” she then asked.

“It’s alright.” Joker said, shrugging his shoulders. “Better that than unwillingly taking a swipe at you. I’ll live.”

“Mm… I never thanked you for defending me earlier, you know.” Seeing that everyone else was occupied gave Panther the perfect opportunity. She stepped closer to Joker and lifted herself on her toes, giving him a brief kiss on the cheek that she was so worried about. She felt the heat radiating off his skin the moment her lips made contact. Whether it was from his injuries or his blushing, she wasn't sure, but that definitely felt much better than a slap!

“Thanks.” Panther said softly.

Joker smiled a little more bashfully as he gingerly placed his gloved fingers against his cheek. “I’d do it again, you know. No regrets.” he said.

“I get the feeling you would,” Panther said, flashing him a grateful smile. “C’mon. Break time’s over, right?”

“Heh… you got it.” Joker mused, his grin widening. 

The two of them then walked together side by side, trying so hard to resist holding each other's hands in their triumph. They were careful not to look like they were being _too close_ in the eyes of their fellow thieves, but it was alright. Joker and Panther knew the truth. The Phantom Thieves continued their exploration of Mementos until they stopped at a certain point where they felt like progress was made today. Add that to fulfilling a request that stopped a young girl from doing something crazy in the name of love, they can safely say that today was a good day.


End file.
